


Among Us

by jeongyeonasaur



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:36:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27895438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeongyeonasaur/pseuds/jeongyeonasaur
Summary: HAPPY BIRTHDAY YANTOKZZZZZ.Listen to: Paper - LANY
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Yoo Jeongyeon
Comments: 3
Kudos: 73





	Among Us

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY YANTOKZZZZZ.
> 
> Listen to: Paper - LANY

**Among Us**

~   
_ The world is perfect. _ _   
_ _ The world is kind. _ _   
_ _ Until they stop pretending. _

~

_ “Power couple: Nayeon - Jeongyeon did it again!” - Seoul Daily _ _   
_ _ “Im-Yoo says that love is making things great.” - Entertainment Now _

“You’re in the news again,” Nayeon heard her childhood friend from the couch of her office. Mina was sitting there, legs crossed and reading articles from her phone. It was seven in the morning and Nayeon didn’t want anything related to news or any of that sort. What she wanted was breakfast. She’s been reviewing the same financial reports since last night and she’s slowly losing her mind.

Nayeon closed the folder and sighed, “Mina, let’s get breakfast. But why are you here in the first place?”

Mina chuckled and put her phone inside her blazer’s pocket. “I was just around the area. I thought I’d give my good old friend a visit,” the younger girl stood up and went to pull Nayeon out of her chair. The charity head finally smiled and removed her glasses before proceeding to the door.

~

Jeongyeon wanted to sleep all day but duty calls. Duty as in her best friend called her because she needs help at the hospital. “Momo, I think nothing’s wrong with this one. She needs attention from her owner,” she removed her stethoscope and stretched her arm upwards.

“Really? She didn’t want to eat yesterday. The owner already called me three times saying something’s wrong with her dog. I was off duty yesterday too,” Momo kept saying while eating french fries. Jeongyeon shook her head and just continued to run scans on the dog.

“Yep, based on lab results, all normal. She needs a good amount of love and attention from her owner. That’s about it,” Jeongyeon sat beside Momo and took a piece of her french fries. “You can’t complain. I went here even if I’m off duty. You know, you should try running all these veterinary hospitals I have. That might make you realize that my job is not as easy as yours.”

Momo snickered, “Sorry. I stopped listening after you mentioned ‘owner’.”

“You’re hopeless,” Jeongyeon surrendered and rested her head on the couch, wanting more sleep.

~

“Hi,” Jeongyeon greeted Nayeon when they saw each other at the garage. “How was work?”

Nayeon smiled, “Hey.” she walked up to the girl and gave her a hug, “It was tiring but I survived.”

“That’s great. Pretty sure you did well and everyone’s proud of you,” she returned the hug and sighed.

“PDA, I see,” their neighbor called their attention. It was Sana. Nayeon broke the hug and chuckled, “It’s fine. It’s just refreshing to see love birds in their honeymoon stage. Jihyo and I used to not care if anyone was watching too. Love is love, right?”

Jeongyeon nodded, “Where’s your wife?”

“Oh, she’s overseas right now. I think she needs to do something with work. How about you two? I saw the news. You two opened a facility for animals and kids? That’s very nice of you,” Sana continued to watch them with loving eyes.

Nayeon scratched her the back of her head, “Yeah. It was a mutual decision to do that. More and more animals are being abandoned like children are being abused. We need to protect them.”

“I agree,” Sana looked at the sky. “It’s getting dark, I should go now. Enjoy your night, love birds!”

When the girl left, Nayeon went to the main door and looked at Jeong, “Let’s go?” they entered their house and closed the door behind them.

~

Nayeon was in a business meeting with the board members when she received a message from her secretary. Normally, she would ignore messages during the meeting but it must be urgent for her own secretary to message her.

**From: Ace**

**Finance team stole a total of $50,000. Got the evidence already, maam.**

  
  


She massaged her temple and took a deep breath. “I suddenly don’t feel well. Can we postpone the finance team’s report? Let’s meet tomorrow. I won’t be able to understand that with this migraine of mine.” she saw the finance head smile. When the meeting was adjourned, she took her bag and car key to drive to where she would feel okay.

Nayeon parked outside the house and rang the doorbell. She even knocked on the door and waited. When the door opened, she sighed, “Mina.”

Automatically, Mina opened her arms, “Come here.” she knew that Nayeon was in a bad situation. Mina always knew what was up. It’s because ever since they were children, Nayeon’s safest place was always beside Mina. Even after Nayeon’s marriage, it was still Mina who she runs to whenever she felt like the world was against her.

“I’m so tired,” Nayeon hugged her and cried. Mina pulled her inside and closed the door. “Mina, it’s so hard.”

“I know. It’s going to be rough but it’ll be worth it,” Mina hushed the crying Nayeon until she fell asleep. Mina started cooking while the girl slept on the couch. She prepared the girl’s favorite food. It’s a little something she does whenever the girl falls apart.

Nayeon woke up smelling the steak Mina was cooking. She sat up and looked at the wedding ring on her ring finger. She chuckled, “I’m really the most hopeless person ever. Being married and still in love with my best friend.”

~

“I’m sorry,” Jeongyeon whispered to the dying dog. There wasn’t much to do. The dog was either going to suffer by illness or die due to its old age. Better to euthanize her before she starts feeling worse. Jeongyeon was left by the owners because they couldn’t handle the pain of losing their dog. She hugged the whimpering dog as it took her last breath. Afterwards, she went out and told her assistants to take charge of everything. Jeongyeon even bought a whole hectare for dogs to be buried.

The next thing she did was to get inside the office where Momo was doing paperworks. “Momo,” she called. She reached out and the girl automatically accepted her hand. Jeongyeon fell on her knees and cried on Momo’s lap. The worst part of being a veterinarian is seeing animals slowly lose their life while looking for their owners. It was something not everyone understood but as for the dog, they know they’re dying. Their only wish is to see their owner before they cross the rainbow bridge.

“Hey, I’m here,” Momo played with the girl’s hair and told her that the dog is in a better place.

Jeongyeon closed her eyes and cherished the small moments like this. When her dad died, the last wish he had was for Jeongyeon to marry his best friend’s daughter. Her mother supported her dad and so she did. She gave up her life to make her father proud. She married Nayeon. Even if she’s in love with Momo.

~

At home, they both noticed that their eyes were swollen. Nayeon knew that Jeongyeon didn’t want to be questioned so she just shrugged and continued to eat. The silence was deafening. Nothing can be heard but the utensils hitting the plate. It was as if they didn’t exist in each other’s world.

“Tell me,” Nayeon was the one to break the silence between them. “Why did you marry me?”

Jeongyeon stopped eating, “I could ask the same to you.”

“I asked you first. We sleep in different rooms, we don’t text or call each other during the day. Yet when in public, we act as if we’re in love,” she looked at Jeongyeon and wondered as to why the girl agreed to marry her in the first place. It’s not like they knew each other before they actually met in a dinner set up by their own parents.

The girl looked at her ring, “Don’t you think we’re the perfect couple? We came from established families. We have our own forte when it comes to careers. We started a charity for those in need. What’s not to like about this arrangement?”

“There’s no love between us,” Nayeon gripped the fork so tightly that it almost felt like the fork would bend. But it didn’t.

“I should ask the same thing. Why did you marry me, Nayeon? We never talked about this. Why talk about it now? Did you finally realize that everything we’re doing, all the pretending, the lying, the gestures, is something you can’t do for the rest of your life? Or did you finally come at terms with your own feelings and realize that you can’t pretend to have feelings for me anymore,” Jeongyeon’s rapid fire of questions caught her off guard. She and Nayeon never talked inside the house. Once the door closes, their masks are removed. That means they don’t care about each other anymore.

— _ flashback : wedding day _

“You may now kiss,” the ceremony head said. Jeongyeon looked around just to find everyone looking at them with expectations. She found Momo looking at her with encouraging eyes. So she did what she had to do. She leaned in and planted a kiss on the side of Nayeon’s lips. She made sure that the angle looked like it was on the lips but in reality, it wasn’t.

Before that, Nayeon locked her eyes with Mina. She wanted to escape. She wanted to run away and just disappear. She didn’t want any of what was happening. She was happily doing charities, helping kids. It wasn’t until her mother threatened her that if she refuses to marry into the Yoo household, she will be disowned.

It took a long and hard night for her to finally give up on her feelings for Mina and just accept that everything in her life will be decided upon by her parents. She is the prized daughter after all.

“You two are now bound to each other for as long as you both shall live,” Nayeon felt Jeongyeon’s lips leave the side of hers. Internally, she was grateful that the girl respected her unsaid wish.

During the reception, she entertained the guests and answered their questions with a happy (fake) smile. The questions were all the same: where did they meet. How long have they been dating. Who asked who. How did they fall in love. Ironically, Jeongyeon planned ahead and did all the talking, saving Nayeon from humiliation.

When the first dance came, Jeongyeon took the lead. “Smile, wife. You don’t want them to think that on your supposed happiest day, you’re actually suffering. Do us both a favor and smile,” Jeongyeon whispered to her. She realized that her mask had been slipping up. Nayeon smiled throughout the night.

During their “honeymoon”, they had this silent agreement to act in love in public. This was mainly because their honeymoon spot was leaked and that media people were there, silently watching them. It wasn’t hard to do since Jeongyeon was known to be composed in public. They got away with holding hands and some hugs here and there.

In the naked eye, Nayeon and Jeongyeon simply looked in love. News about them spread like wildfire and everyone adored their  _ perfect  _ relationship.

They met Sana and Jihyo in the middle of a quarrel. The two knocked on their door to introduce themselves since they are their new neighbors. Sana smiled and gave muffins while Jihyo offered a hug. They received compliments on how cute they looked. Nayeon thanked them and then when they left, she walked out.

It was a good decision to have the house soundproofed. No matter how Nayeon shouts at Jeong to get the door or vice versa, the people don’t hear it.

— _ present time _

“I didn’t have a choice,” Nayeon finally admitted. She felt like she could be honest with Jeongyeon so she went with her gut and admitted it. “If I didn’t marry you, I would have been disowned. Besides, it’s not like I was dating someone that time.”

“Well are you dating someone now?” the girl asked. Nayeon shook her head. “Do you want to date someone?”

It was a simple question, really. But somehow, Nayeon didn’t know what to answer. Does she want to date someone?

“I’m not sure at the moment. I’m okay with this,” she went for the safe answer. Although Mina’s face flashed in her mind. But it seemed as though Jeongyeon read her mind and nodded at her, accepting that she didn’t want to open up yet.

“How’s the charity for the kids and dogs?” Jeongyeon changed the subject. Truth be told, this was actually their first decent dinner together. Oftentimes they’d go home and go to sleep. No talking, no interaction, nothing.

“Decent, actually. I fired those who stole charity money,” Nayeon answered her and then continued. “Speaking of, we have a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday next week. Be sure to free your schedule and feel free to invite anyone you like. The media will be there.”

A nod ended their conversation. They proceeded to eat without any more exchanges. Somehow, the atmosphere wasn’t as heavy as before.

Inside her room, Nayeon was scanning through her phone when Mina called. Her heart instantly raced. Nayeon commends herself for hiding her feelings for almost all their friendship years now. Mina and her have been friends since they were kids and she couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t love Mina. Mina was everything: her world, her love, her only choice. It was when she told Mina about her arranged marriage that she realized that she wasn’t Mina’s choice.

“Hey, what’s up?” Nayeon made sure her voice sounded bored but in reality, she was excited to hear Mina’s voice.

“Have you ever felt like you wanted to be someone but you can’t because you don’t want to ruin everything? That if you take a step further, all the effort and trust will just crumble?” Mina’s words made her rethink everything. Was she afraid of losing Mina that she just backed off? Was she too scared to ruin the friendship that she friendzone herself instead?

She chuckled, “May I ask why? Do you like someone?” She must admit, her own question scared her.

“I just realized it now. I never acknowledged it before. I think I do. I just don’t like her. Nayeon, I love her. I’m in love with her and I just realized it,” Mina sounded so excited. She could almost imagine the smile Mina had.

Nayeon’s heart beat tripled. “Oh, well, if you think there’s a chance, confess.”

_ We can still be together. _

“But what about the friendship?” by this time, Nayeon was so sure that it was her that Mina was referring to.

“It’ll continue, I promise,” she took a deep breath and relaxed herself. “Hey, don’t be late on Tuesday, okay?”

“You know I’ll never be late when it comes to you,” Mina’s chuckle echoed in Nayeon’s ear. She wanted to record it just to hear it every single time.

~

Monday evening and Nayeon was waiting for Jeongyeon to arrive. For the past week, she had been thinking about confessing her love for Mina as well. But of course, she needed Jeongyeon’s approval because regardless of how civil they are with each other, Jeongyeon was still, legally, her wife. She wanted to respect Jeongyeon as much as the girl respected her.

When Jeongyeon’s car pulled around the corner, she got excited. She opened the gate herself and waited until Jeongyeon got out of her car. She saw Sana getting out of their own house as Jeongyeon walked up to her. Instantly, she hugged the taller girl, “I missed you!”

It was automatically understood by the girl so she hugged Nayeon back and kissed her temple, “I missed you too, wife.”

They held hands and got inside their house. As soon as the door closed, their hands parted. “Sana was there,” Nayeon explained.

“I know. Don’t worry, it’s not like I thought you fell for me already. It’s not happening because I really don’t love you too,” Jeongyeon answered and checked her watch. “But what’s up? Why were you waiting? Did I forget a public appearance or anything?”

The older girl shook her head, “No. I need to talk to you. Come.” She pulled Jeongyeon towards the sofa and made her sit. “You know, you asked before if I wanted to date someone, right?”

“Yeah. You said none at the moment,” Jeongyeon crossed her legs and waited for Nayeon to continue. The blonde’s short hair really suited Jeongyeon’s small face. Nayeon thought that it things were different, she would have chosen Jeongyeon instead. But things weren’t different. In this lifetime, Nayeon loved Mina. And in this lifetime, Jeongyeon didn’t love Nayeon.

She took a deep breath, “I’m choosing myself this time, Jeong. I will confess to Mina. I’ve been in love with her since I can’t remember and I think I deserve to be happy. I don’t want to waste your time anymore. I think she loves me too. If the confession goes right, I’ll file a divorce.”

Jeongyeon was quiet. It almost scared her. But then the girl smiled, “I support you, wife.”

Nayeon squealed and hugged Jeongyeon. Something she always does to her friends when she’s happy. The girl chuckled and patted her head, “Thank you, Jeong. Thank you, wife.”

She ran to her room and looked for her phone to text Mina.

**To: Mina**

**Be early tomorrow! I want to tell you something.**

**From: Mina**

**Sure! I’ll tell you something important too.**

Nayeon slept with the widest smile on her face. Probably the best sleep she had since she moved into the house.

~

“Nayeon, look here,” said the man. “No, look here Jeong!” another man said. Nayeon and Jeongyeon arrived at the ribbon cutting venue hours before the said event. They were both wearing formal clothes and the press loved it. The two have always been the crowd favorite because they looked exquisitely beautiful. They were both unique in their own way.

Nayeon looked anxious because she was waiting for Mina to arrive. Jeongyeon excused herself and fetched Momo from the entrance. When Mina called her, she immediately stood up and met with the girl at the back of the venue where no one could see them.

“Hey,” Nayeon played with her fingers and took a deep breath.

“Nay, can I go first? I really want to be honest now,” Mina said. She nodded. The girl took her hands and started talking, “You know, I never really believed in that thing called love, right? It’s corny for me. Then you got married, I suddenly felt lonely. I felt left out. You were my only friend because only you stayed when everyone else got tired of me not interacting with then. I really appreciate you, Nay. So I want you to be the first to know.”

“Mina…” she teared up. Her heart almost exploded.

“Nayeon, I love Momo,” instantly, Nayeon’s world crumbled.

“What?” she chuckled and blinked more than once. She wasn’t sure if she heard it right.

“Jeongyeon’s best friend. I met her during your wedding. We’ve been secretly hanging out and I realized that I love her. I finally know what love is, Nay,” Mina hugged her so tightly. It almost felt like her broken pieces were being out back to place.  _ Almost. _

When Mina broke the hug, she waited for Nayeon to speak, “Uhm… yeah, Jeongyeon wants to get married again.”

“Really?! That’s nice! I’ll be your maid of honor again. I’ll always be your maid of honor, Nay. I’ll be here until you need me. Best friends forever and ever,” Mina hugged her again. “I want to tell Jeongyeon too but Momo told me that she’ll be the one to tell her. Let’s have dinner soon!”

When Mina left, Nayeon took her phone. With shaky hands, she messaged Jeongyeon.

**To: Jeongyeon**

**Back stage. Please.**

The girl arrived with the same pained expression mirroring hers. “Did she tell you?” Nayeon nodded. Jeongyeon pulled her into a hug, “I’m so sorry.”

“I thought… I thought she loved me,” Nayeon’s voice cracked. She held onto Jeongyeon’s shirt. She needed support because honestly? If Jeong wasn’t there, she would have broken down.

After the ribbon cutting, Mina and Momo formally announced their relationship to Jeongyeon and Nayeon. Being the perfect actresses that they were, they smiled and congratulated them.

At home, Nayeon was crying beside Jeongyeon. The veterinarian remained stoic while drinking cans and cans of beer. “I really was delusional,” Nayeon cried.

“Wife, I’ll let you in for a little secret,” Jeongyeon finally spoke after chugging another can of beer.

In between sobs, Nayeon asked, “What?”

Jeongyeon placed an arm over her eyes. Nayeon saw the tears that fell, “I’ve always been in love with Momo.”

It didn’t feel real. It felt like they were dreaming. Like they were stuck in their own version of a hell loop and they couldn’t get out.

Nayeon stared at Jeongyeon. When their eyes met, they knew what they needed to do.

With a can of beer in their hands, they clinked their drinks, “We’re staying like this forever, wife.” They both said.

~

_ “Im-Yoo signed another contract to expand their charity overseas!” -Politically Sane _

_ “Nayeon: I think Jeongyeon’s the best thing that happened to me.” -Entertainment Daily _

_ “Picture Perfect Couple: Nayeon-Jeongyeon spotted at the local mall again!” -Showbiz Inside _

“Well, we’re in the papers again,” Jeongyeon sat on the couch after removing her coat.

Nayeon shrugged, “Isn’t that what we do?” she took the wine bottle from the kitchen and walked back to the living room, “We make sure they never doubt us.”

Jeongyeon chuckled and took the wine that Nayeon gave, “We look good on paper.”

They saw the latest post of Mina on her social media account. It was a picture of her and Momo with a heart as a caption. Nayeon raised her glass and asked for a clink, “Then we fall apart later.”


End file.
